Anthropology Optional (Tribal Problems) by Sourabh Mishra

Model Answer

Question #1. Write short note on Indebtedness among tribal communities

Approach:

• Introduce the indebtedness among tribals
• Discuss the causes of debt-bondage
• Discuss impact it has on tribals
• Suggest some remedial measure to tackle this menace
• Quote the recommendations given by xaxa committee

Hints:

Indebtedness or debt-bondage refers to an obligation to pay money to another party. Indebtedness is one of the major problems afflicting tribal societies in India. Most of the tribal families are “born in debt, live in debt and die in debt”.

There are many causes of debt-bondage:

According to Verma (2017), indebtedness is attributed mainly to the following: 

• Land alienation- Land is the basic source of all employment for tribals
• Low yield from traditional agricultural practices
• Extreme poverty,
• Exploitative moneylending practises.
  • Loopholes in the money lending laws and absence of any regulatory control against private moneylenders.
  • Palemod system of Maharashtra: tribals borrow seeds on loans from moneylenders and return 3-4 times in return 
• Lack of awareness among tribals about sources of institutional finances (such as banks and co-operative societies)
• Indifferent attitudes of officials (government and banks)
• The subsistence type of agriculture mostly dependent on the uncertain rainfall, poor conditions of the soil, primitive methods make the tribal economy continuously a deficit one.
• Their extravagant customs of marriage, death and religious ceremonies, further make worse the deficit nature of their economy and compel them to borrow.
• Addiction to alcohol (Handia is a rice beer originating from the Indian subcontinent, popular in the Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal.)

Impact:

• Selling of land to pay debt
• Bonded labour-
  • Goti system among Juangs
  • Hali system among Sahariyas of Rajasthan
  • Selling of girls into prostitution
• High out-of-pocket expenses create inevitable cycles of indebtedness and impoverishment. This impacts food consumption, healthcare, and other dimensions of the lives of women, children and families from these communities.

Remedial measures:

Constitutional provisions:

The Fifth Scheduled enables the governor of a state to regulate moneylenders’ business in scheduled areas.

Various state governments have passed laws in this regard. Some of the important laws passed by different states to control and curb money lending are:

• The Bihar State Scheduled areas Money lenders Regulation, 1985.
• The Andhra Pradesh State Scheduled Area Money-lenders.

Administrative measures

• As remedial measures, alternative credit facilities have been provided for short-term and long-term loans.
• Procedures are simplified for speedy payment of loans.
• LAMPS (Large Area Multi-Purpose Co-operative Societies) and PACS (Primary Agriculture Co-operative Societies) have been started to meet loan and other consumer requirements in tribal areas.

Recommendations: (Xaxa committee)

• The provisions made under the Fifth Schedule of Constitution should be implemented properly to check the exploitation by moneylenders in tribal areas.
• Promotion of micro-credit to reduce the cost of raising capital and protect tribals from the clutches of moneylenders. LAMPS and PACS and Commercial Banks should be made stronger to provide credit and loans to tribals.
• Strong steps should be taken against exploiters and oppressors of the tribals
• The process for procuring loans must be made simple with low interest rates.
• There is a dire need to establish agro-based training institutions in tribal areas
• Skilling and capacity building of tribals to that they don’t fall in debt traps again
• In order to make use of land available with the tribal farmers, they should be motivated to undertake organic farming and eco-forestry. This requires concerted efforts by the Departments of Agriculture and Forest to motivate the tribal farmers to undertake such activities.
• Micro watershed development program with people-centred participatory approach is a good method for poverty reduction through natural resource management in tribal regions.

Question #2. Discuss the problem of tribal displacement in India. Evaluate steps taken by GOI in countering the consequences of tribal displacement.

Approach:

• Introduce why tribal displacement is happening
• Discuss causes for tribal displacement and its extent
• Also discuss consequences of the tribal displacement
• Evaluate the steps taken by the government
• Way forward
• Conclusion

Hints:

In India almost 70% of mineral resources are invariably located in the tribal inhabited regions. The forest resources and other political aims of the British government opened up tribal areas for exploitation.

Later on, India’s developmental policies had their own effect on tribal displacement & rehabilitation. The consequent industrialisation & urbanisation resulted in social, economic, political and cultural problems. Majority of displacement of tribals is from the central Indian region.

Causes:

• Industrialisation: developmental projects of five year plans, mining & quarrying etc.
• Irrigation projects for example Subarnarekha dam in Jharkhand, Keol Karo dam near Ranchi, Narmada dam, Polavaram dam etc.
• Urbanisation & land acquisition for urban growth
• Energy projects like Hydroelectric Power Projects, Nuclear power projects like Kudankulum, Thermal power plants etc.
• Displacement due to reservation of forest for Wildlife sanctuary, Biosphere reserves and National Parks. Example: Nagarhole Wildlife Sanctuary in Karnataka.
• Mining and quarrying: Vedanta and POSCO in Odisha.
• Livelihood loss caused by environmental degradation & pollution.
• Land acquisition for military establishments

Extent of tribal displacement

Tribal community roughly comprises of 8.6% of total population but over 50% of those displaced belong to tribal people. According to L. K. Mahapatra, out of total displaced population, 40% is tribal, 20% is SC and rest 20% constitutes OBCs. 29” report of the Commissioner of SC & ST and Tribal Workshop of 8” FYP supports this data.

Consequences:

• Land alienation
• Industrial nomadism
• Destruction of NMS complex
• Food insecurity
• Homelessness
• Problems of culture contact

Steps taken by government: 

Legislations

• • The Assam land Revenue Regulation Act, 1964.
  • In Bihar the Scheduled Area Regulation, 1969 which provides protection to the Scheduled Tribes against the alienation of their land and against exploitation by money lenders.
  • The Gujarat State Government by a notification issued in April 1961, under Sec.73-A of the Bombay Land Revenue Code 1879 prohibited the transfer of occupancies held by the tribal cultivators in Scheduled Areas. 
• Under the Kerala Arable Forest Land Assignment Rules 1970.
  • Kerala Land Reforms (Amendment) Act, 1969 by C. Achutha Menon government which put an end to the feudal system and ensured the rights of the tenants on land, came into force on 1 January 1970. However, cash crop plantations had been exempted from its purview.
•  PESA (Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Areas (PESA) Act 1996)
  • It safeguards and preserves the traditions and customs of the people, and their cultural identity, community resources, customary mode of dispute resolution.
  • PESA empowers Gram Sabha/Panchayat at appropriate level with right to mandatory consultation in land acquisition, resettlement and rehabilitation of displaced persons.
•  LARR act (Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013):
  • The amount of compensation much higher (four times higher in rural areas and two times in urban areas) than the Old Act
  • The element of consent for Acquisition and Rehabilitation and Resettlement are included in this Act.
  • Time bound and transparent process
•  FRA (The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006):
  • The Act recognizes and vest the forest rights and occupation in Forest land in Forest Dwelling Scheduled Tribes (FDST) and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (OTFD) who have been residing in such forests for generations.
  • The Gram Sabha is the authority to initiate the process for determining the nature and extent of Individual Forest Rights (IFR) or Community Forest Rights (CFR) or both that may be given to FDST and OTFD.
• Policies:
• National rehabilitation & Resettlement Policy, 2007
  • Policy covers all cases of involuntary displacement
  • Social impact assessment introduced for displacement of 400/200 or more families in plain/tribal, hilly, scheduled areas
  • Tribal Development Plan in case of displacement of 200+ ST families
  • Consultations with Grama Sabha or public hearings made compulsory
  • Principle of rehabilitation before displacement
  • If possible, land for land as compensation
  • Skill development support and preference in project jobs (one person per nuclear family)
  • Rehabilitation grant in lieu of land/job
  • Option for shares in companies implementing projects to affected families

Novel steps:

Joint forest management

• Under JFM, village communities are entrusted with the protection and management of nearby forests.
• The communities are required to organize forest protection committees, village forest committees, village forest conservation and development societies, etc.
• Each of these bodies has an executive committee that manages its day-to-day affairs.
  In return of their services to the forests, the communities get the benefit of using minor non-timber forest produce.
  As a result, the forest can be conserved in a sustainable manner.
• For example:
  Controlled grazing of cattle by the Gaddi and Gujjar tribes in the Himalayan states prevents the widespread growth of wild grass, thus contributing towards conservation of biodiversity.

Way Forward:

• D. Sharma, former IAS & chairperson of the National SC & STs Commission suggests that there is a need to prepare the tribals to benefit from industries by training and inculcating entrepreneurship in them to grab the opportunities provided by industrialisation & urbanisation.
• He also suggests that the displaced people should be given houses, employment and health facilities, education facilities and not only cash payments.
• As far as possible, minor irrigation projects are to be taken up as an alternative to major and medium irrigation projects. 
• The project cost should include rehabilitation cost also; otherwise it should not be approved by the government. The time gap between preparation and execution of project is to be used for training the tribals on particular skills to be employed in the same industry.
• All projects should be put to public debate & their possible impact on tribals. Gram Sabha should be given rights to decide about land acquisition.

Conclusion:

The displacement of tribals is inevitable as the resources required for national development & upliftment are mainly located in tribal areas. There is need for integration of tribal interest and national interest which can be fulfilled only by adequate compensation and proper rehabilitation of the displaced tribals. The process of rearrangement of human settlement i.e. (displacement and rehabilitation) should be as just, humane and voluntary as possible. There is need of people centric rehabilitation approach.